Man Pleads Guilty After Applying for $13.4 Million in Pandemic Relief – Fraud Friday

May 17, 2024

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Man Pleads Guilty After Applying for $13.4 Million in Pandemic Relief – Fraud Friday

“Mr. Toland’s plea reinforces a simple message. Crime does not pay,” says IRS Criminal Investigation Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley. “Our highly trained agents are experts at investigating financial crimes and following the money directly to criminals pursuing ill-gotten gains. Our agents are also motivated to protect the American people against fraudsters siphoning money from citizens in need.”

Jason Toland pleaded guilty to one count of submitting false claims against the United States after fraudulently obtaining EIDLs, PPP loans, and tax credits. In total, Toland tried to take $13.4 million in pandemic relief. Of that, he successfully obtained nearly $2 million, but he will have to pay it all back in restitution plus interest and fees.

Using shell companies with no employees or business activity, he applied for more than $1.7 million in PPP and EIDL funds. He submitted PPP applications across different banks, and he submitted multiple EIDL applications to the SBA for the shell companies.

He also defrauded the IRS by filing false tax returns seeking refunds for the Employee Retention Credit and the COVID Sick and Family Leave Credit. In one example, Toland filed two false Forms 941 to the IRS which led to $210,868 in improper refunds to be issued to Toland.

Just a few years earlier, the California Department of Insurance issued a Cease and Desist Order against him for allegedly selling insurance with a revoked license. The CDIC further said that he left several clients underinsured and at financial risk. An investigation was launched after the Department received a complaint that Toland allegedly issued a phony insurance certificate. The investigation found that Toland manipulated information on insurance applications and made misrepresentations to comply with the insurers’ underwriting guidelines.

Toland’s insurance license was revoked in January 2020 after an earlier investigation revealed the same deceptive practices.

Source:
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
CDIC Press Release